Processing and reporting situational information to emergency service providers

ABSTRACT

A system and method for processing and reporting situational information to emergency service providers in an emergency service communications network is disclosed. An emergency situation is monitored. Responsive to detecting the emergency situation, information relating to the emergency situation is collected. Then, the information is processed and stored in a database. The processed information is then reported to emergency service providers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation from U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/851,722, filed Sep. 7, 2007, entitled “PROCESSING AND REPORTINGSITUATIONAL INFORMATION TO EMERGENCY SERVICE PROVIDERS”, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is generally related to an emergency servicecommunications network, and more particularly to processing andreporting situational information to emergency service providers in anemergency service communications network.

This application is a continuation from U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/851,722, filed Sep. 7, 2007, entitled “PROCESSING AND REPORTINGSITUATIONAL INFORMATION TO EMERGENCY SERVICE PROVIDERS”, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In an emergency situation, persons involved or bystanders often contactemergency services by placing a 9-1-1 call from their home or cellularphone. An emergency operator at a public safety answering point (PSAP)who received the call takes the information provided by the caller anddispatches necessary emergency service providers to handle thesituation. Common emergency service providers that are dispatchedinclude the police, the fire department, emergency medical services(EMS), and the like.

While the information collected from the caller is helpful to emergencyservice providers, additional information about the situation may benecessary. For example, extent of the property damage and personalinjuries, vehicle and driver information, etc. A person involved orbystander may or may not be able to provide such information in anaccurate manner. In addition, there may be situations in which theperson involved is not available to report, for example, in a kidnappingsituation. Therefore, what is needed is ability to better process andreport situational information to emergency service providers, such thatbetter emergency responses may be provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides an improved method and system forprocessing and reporting situational information to emergency serviceproviders in an emergency service communications network.

The present disclosure describes a method for processing and reportingsituational information to emergency service providers. An emergencysituation is monitored. Responsive to detecting the emergency situation,information relating to the emergency situation is collected. Thecollected information is processed and stored in a database. Theprocessed information is then reported to emergency service providers.

The information relating to the emergency situation is collected, in oneembodiment, by instructing the caller to send a message havingmulti-media information using a short code, routing the message to amulti-media messaging carrier, routing the message from the multi-mediamessaging carrier to a multi-media messaging system aggregator via apacket data servicing node, and forwarding the message from themulti-media messaging system aggregator to the database. Alternatively,the information relating to the emergency situation is collected byrecognizing an emergency situation based on the captured traffic andvehicle information, and storing vehicle information associated with theemergency situation to the database.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the collected informationis processed by identifying a telephone number of the caller from themessage, storing the telephone number and multi-media information of themessage in the database. In an alterative embodiment, collectedinformation is processed by identifying at least one license or vehicledescription from the vehicle information, comparing the at least onelicense or vehicle description with a plurality of licenses or vehicledescriptions in the database, and determining if a match exists betweenthe at least one license or vehicle description and at least one of theplurality of licenses or vehicle descriptions.

In one embodiment, the processed information to emergency serviceproviders is reported by receiving a query from a public safetyanswering point, the query comprising a telephone number, comparing thetelephone number with a plurality of telephone numbers in the database,determining if a match exists between the telephone number and at leastone of the plurality of telephone numbers, and sending the multi-mediainformation of the message to the public safety answering point if amatch exists.

In an alterative embodiment, the processed information to emergencyservice providers is reported by receiving a query from a public safetyanswering point for relevant multi-media information, and returning allmulti-media information associated from the database to the publicsafety answer point.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the processed information toemergency service providers is reported by receiving a query from apublic safety answering point for relevant multi-media information, andreturning all multi-media information associated from the database tothe public safety answer point.

In still yet another alternative embodiment, the processed informationis reported to emergency service providers by locating a public safetyanswering point located closest to the at least one camera, and sendingcorresponding vehicle information to the public safety answering pointif a match of license or vehicle description exists.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary emergency service communications network.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing andreporting emergency situation to emergency service providers inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for collectingmulti-media content of the emergency situation in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing thecollected information in the database in accordance with a firstembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for reporting theprocessed information to emergency service providers in accordance witha first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5B depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for reporting theprocessed information to emergency service providers in accordance witha second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5C depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for reporting theprocessed information to emergency service providers in accordance witha third embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a first embodiment of a system for processing andreporting situational information to emergency service providers.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for collectinginformation relating to the emergency situation in accordance with asecond embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing thecollected information in the database in accordance with a secondembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for reporting theprocessed information to emergency service providers in accordance witha fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 depicts a second embodiment of a system for processing andreporting situational information to emergency service providers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary emergency service communicationsnetwork is depicted. In emergency service communications network 100, acaller 102 places an emergency call, for example, by dialing 9-1-1,using a wired telephone 104. Central office 106, which is connected totelephone 104, recognizes from the dialed number that this call requiresemergency treatment. Central office 106 then seizes a trunk 108 toselective routing switch 110 and transmits the telephone number (TN) oftelephone 104 to selective routing switch 110. Telephone number (TN)uniquely identifies telephone 104 in emergency service communicationsnetwork 100 and may be used interchangeably with directory number (DN)as an automatic number identification when the directory number is sentfrom one network component to another.

Once selective routing switch 110 receives the telephone number (TN), itforwards the telephone number to automatic location identificationsystem (ALIS) 112. ALIS 112 in turn selects a public safety answeringpoint (PSAP) 114 to assign the call based on the TN. The public safetyanswering point (PSAP) may be an answering point closest to the calleror available at the time of the call. The operator at PSAP 114 thenidentifies an emergency service provider (ESP) 116 to handle theemergency and returns an emergency service number (ESN) associated withthe emergency service provider (ESP) 116 to the selective routing switch110. The selective routing switch then forwards the telephone number(TN) of telephone 104 to PSAP 114 and a call is connected between PSAP114 and telephone 104.

When PSAP 114 receives the call from telephone 104, it forwards the TNto ALIS 112. ALIS 112 then performs a database lookup using the TN as akey and retrieves records associated with the TN. Examples of recordsretrieved include caller's location information, such as, a streetaddress, geo-location coordinates, and the like. ALIS 112 then forwardsthese records to PSAP 114, which then forwards the location informationto ESP 116 for its use in providing proper emergency response.

In addition to a wired telephone call, caller 102 may place an emergencycall using a cellular phone 118. Cellular phone 118 transmits the callto a cellular tower 120, which forwards the call to a mobile switchingcenter (MSC) 122 within a mobile communications network 124. The mobileswitching center (MSC) 122 receives the call and contacts a mobilepositioning center (MPC) 126 to determine the location of cellular phone118 in order to establish a geographical area for routing the call to anappropriate PSAP. The MPC 126 in turn contacts a positioning determiningentity 128 to determine the location of cellular phone 118.

Once the location is determined, PDE 128 returns an emergency servicerouting key (ESRK) as an identifier of the position of cellular phone118 to mobile positioning center (MPC) 126, which returns the ESRK toMSC 122. MSC 122 then sends the ESRK to selective routing switch 110.Selective routing switch 110 queries the ALIS 112 using the ESRK as akey for an appropriate PSAP serving the geographical area of the caller102. ALIS 112 determines which PSAP, for example, PSAP 114, to directthe call based on the ESRK and delivers the emergency service number(ESN) of PSAP 114 to selective routing switch 110. The selective routingswitch 110 delivers the ESRK to the PSAP 114 and extends the call toPSAP 114.

Similar to the wired call, PSAP 114 uses ESRK of cellular phone 118 as akey to query ALIS 112 for records associated with cellular phone 118.ALIS 112 forwards the ESRK to MPC 126, which queries positioningdetermining entity (PDE) 128 for geo-location coordinates of thecellular phone 118. Once the coordinates are determined, PDE 128 returnsthe coordinates to MPC 126, which delivers them to ALIS 112. ALIS 112then forwards the coordinates to PSAP 114, which then forwards theinformation to ESP 116 for its use in providing proper emergencyresponse.

While the location information collected from the caller is helpful toemergency service providers, additional information about the situationmay be necessary. For example, extent of the property damage andpersonal injuries, vehicle and driver information, etc. A personinvolved or bystander may or may not be able to provide such informationin an accurate manner. Aspects of the present disclosure provides animproved method and system for processing and reporting situationalinformation to emergency service providers, such that better emergencyresponses may be provided.

FIG. 2 provides a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing andreporting emergency situation to emergency service providers. Thisexemplary process 200 begins at step 202 with monitoring for anemergency situation. In one embodiment of the present disclosure,monitoring for an emergency situation may include monitoring for anemergency call initiated from a caller. Alternatively, monitoring for anemergency situation may include instructing cameras in specificgeographical areas to capture traffic and vehicle information.

The process continues to step 204 to collect information relating to theemergency situation responsive to detecting an emergency situation.Next, the process continues to step 206 to store and process thecollected information in a database. The process then completes at step208 to report the processed information to emergency service providers.

As discussed above, information in addition to those provided by thecaller or ALIS records may be beneficial in providing a better emergencyresponse. For example, if the caller is using a cellular phone havingthe capability of capturing images of the situation, these images may bebeneficial to ESPs in providing a better response. Additional situationinformation that may be captured by images includes the scene of anaccident, pictures of suspects and vehicles involved, etc. With theadditional situation information, emergency service providers mayprovide better responses, including dispatching proper response teamsfor that situation, rerouting traffic around the scene of the accident,or notifying law enforcement agencies about details of the suspects,etc.

To collect images captured from callers' cellular phone or mobiledevices, an aspect of the present disclosure include the ability tointegrate with different multi-media messaging carriers (MMSCs). In anillustrative embodiment, an aspect of the present disclosure providesthe capability to route multi-media messages received at a multi-mediamessaging carrier from mobile devices to a multi-media messaging system(MMS) aggregator. The MMS aggregator then forwards multi-media messagesto the database. Examples of multi-media contents handled by the MMSaggregator include videos, sound files, graphics, and the like.Alternatively, the multi-media messages may be routed directly from themulti-media messaging carrier to the database.

FIG. 3 provides a flowchart of an exemplary method for collectingmulti-media content of the emergency situation. The process 204 beginsat step 302 with instructing the caller to send a message havingmulti-media information using a short code. Short codes are specialtelephone numbers, which are significantly shorter than normal telephonenumbers, for addressing a short message or multi-media message from amobile phone to a service provider. In this example, short codes, suchas 911PCIS or 911911, may be used to send multi-media information.

Once the caller sends a multi-media message (MMS), the process continuesto step 304 to route the message to the multi-media messaging carrier(MMSC) via a packet data servicing node (PSDN). For example, the messagemay be route from a mobile device, such as cellular phone 118, to amulti-media messaging carrier (MMSC) via a packet data servicing node(PDSN). PDSN provides an access gateway for the mobile device to an IPnetwork, such as the MMSC. Once the MMSC receives the message, theprocess continues to step 306 to route the MMS message from the MMSC tothe MMS aggregator. The process then completes at step 308 to forwardthe MMS message from the MMS aggregator to a database. Alternative torouting the MMS message via the MMS aggregator, the process may continuedirectly from step 304 to step 308 to route the MMS message from theMMSC to the database bypassing the MMS aggregator.

Once the multi-media message is received at the database, themulti-media message is processed by an aspect of the present disclosure.FIG. 4 provides a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing thecollected information in the database. The process 206 begins at step402 with identifying a telephone number (TN) of the caller from themessage. The process then completes at step 404 to store the telephonenumber and associated multi-media information in the database.

Once the multi-media information is processed by the database, an aspectof the present disclosure reports the processed information from thedatabase to proper emergency service providers. FIG. 5A provides aflowchart of a first embodiment of an exemplary method for reporting theprocessed information to emergency service providers. The process 208begins at step 502 with receiving a query from a public safety answeringpoint (PSAP) for multi-media information of the caller. As discussedabove, the PSAP identifies the caller by a telephone number or emergencyservice routing key (ESRK). Thus, the query may include either a TN or aESRK.

The process then continues to step 504 to compare the telephone numberwith a plurality of telephone numbers stored in the database. Sincetelephone numbers of callers and associated multi-media information arestored in the database, the process continues to step 506 to determineif a match exists between the telephone number of the caller and atleast one of the plurality of telephone numbers stored in the database.

If a match exists between the telephone number of the caller and one ofthe telephone numbers stored in the database, the process continues tostep 508 to send the multi-media information of the message to thepublic safety answering point. Alternatively, the multi-mediainformation of the message may be displayed to emergency personnel via auser-graphical interface, for example, a web browser interface.Otherwise, an error is returned to PSAP at step 510. Once themulti-media information is received by the PSAP, the PSAP forwards theinformation to emergency service providers for its use in providingproper response.

Instead of identifying multi-media information associated with atelephone number or ESRK, an aspect of the present disclosure providesthe capability to report the multi-media information automatically basedon the location of the caller. FIG. 5B provides a flowchart of a secondembodiment of an exemplary method for reporting the processedinformation to emergency service providers. The process 208 begins atstep 520 with locating the location of the caller based on the TN of thecaller. For example, an aspect of the present disclosure may leverageexisting location infrastructure, such as a geographical informationsystem (GIS) or global positioning system (GPS), to locate the callerbased on the telephone number or ESRK. Once the location of the calleris identified, the process continues to step 522 to identify a closestpublic safety answering point (PSAP) that services that location. Oncethe closest PSAP is identified, the process continues to step 524 tosend the multi-media information from the database to the closest PSAP.One example of sending the multi-media information to the closest PSAPis by secured email. By leverage existing location infrastructure, themulti-media information may be sent automatically to the proper PSAPwithout the need of a query.

Furthermore, an aspect of the present disclosure may also leverageexisting location infrastructure to identify all multi-media informationthat is relevant to a specific PSAP and return only those information tothe PSAP. FIG. 5C provides a flowchart of a third embodiment of anexemplary method for reporting the processed information to emergencyservice providers. The process 208 begins at step 530 with receiving aquery from a specific PSAP for relevant multi-media information. Next,the process continues to step 532 to search the database and returnmulti-media information within the PSAP's jurisdiction to the PSAP.

FIG. 6 provides a first embodiment of a system for processing andreporting situational information to emergency service providers. Oncean emergency situation is reported by a caller 602, caller 602 isinstructed by a PSAP operator to send a multi-media messaging system(MMS) message captured from cellular phone 604 using a short code.Cellular tower 606 receives the MMS message from cellular phone 604 andforwards the message to a multi-media messaging carrier (MMSC) 610 via apacket data servicing node (PDSN) 608. The MMSC 610 routes the MMSmessage to a proper MMS aggregator 612 associated with the carrier. TheMMS aggregator 612 then forwards the message to a 911 multi-mediaclearing house 614 provided by an aspect of the present disclosure.Alternative to routing the message via the MMS aggregator 612, the MMSC610 may forward the MMS message directly to the 911 multi-media clearinghouse 614.

Upon receiving the MMS message, the 911 multi-media clearing house 614stores and processes the message in the database 616 in accordance withthe steps described in FIG. 4. An operator at a public safety answeringpoint (PSAP) 620 then sends a query for multi-media information of thecaller to a local exchange carrier (LEC) network known as ESNet 618. TheESNet 618 then forwards the query to the 911 multi-media clearing house614. The query may include a telephone number or ESRK identifying thecaller. Upon receiving the query from the ESNet 618, the 911 multi-mediaclearing house 614 reports the processed information to PSAP 620 inaccordance with the steps described in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C.

To leverage existing location infrastructure, the 911 multi-mediaclearing house 614 may be connected to a GIS or GPS server 622. Thus, inthe event of a query for relevant multi-media information from aspecific PSAP or to locate a closest PSAP for a caller, the 911multi-media clearing house 614 may perform a look up of the coverage ofthe PSAP before reporting multi-media information in database 616 to thePSAP 620.

As discussed above, there may be situations in which the person involvedis not available to report, for example, in a kidnapping situation.Aspects of the present disclosure provide an improved method and systemfor processing and reporting situational information that otherwise isunavailable in some situations. For example, to monitor for an emergencysituation, an aspect of the present disclosure may instruct at least onecamera at specific geographical locations to capture traffic and vehicleinformation. An aspect of the present disclosure may recognize anemergency situation based on the captured traffic and vehicleinformation and collect vehicle information associated with thesituation.

FIG. 7 provides a flowchart of an exemplary method for collectinginformation relating to the emergency situation. The process 204 beginsat step 702 with recognizing an emergency situation based on traffic andvehicle information captured by the at least one camera. Next, theprocess continues to step 704 to store vehicle information associatedwith the emergency situation in the database. The collected informationmay then be processed in the database.

FIG. 8 provides a flowchart of an exemplary method for processing thecollected information in the database. The process 206 begins at step802 with identifying a license from the vehicle information captured bythe cameras. The process then continues to step 804 to compare thelicense with a plurality of licenses stored in the database. The processthen continues to step 806 to determine if a match exists between thelicense and the licenses stored in the database. In this example, thedatabase comprises vehicle information obtained from law enforcementagencies, including licenses, vehicle descriptions, owner information,etc.

If a match exists between the license and licenses stored in thedatabase, the process continues to step 808 to report the vehicleinformation to PSAP. Otherwise, a no match found message is returned atstep 810. While the above steps described are directed to licensesstored in a database, other types of vehicle information may beprocessed in the database without departing the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. For example, vehicle descriptions and ownerinformation may also be processed in the database.

Once a match exists between the captured information and vehicleinformation stored in the database, aspects of the present disclosuremay report the processed information to PSAP which in turns forwards theinformation to emergency service providers for proper response. FIG. 9provides a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of an exemplary method forreporting the processed information to emergency service providers. Theprocess 808 begins at step 902 with locating a public safety answeringpoint (PSAP) closest to the at least one camera. As discussed above, thenearest PSAP may be located based on the telephone number or theemergency service routing key of the caller. The process then continuesto step 904 to send corresponding vehicle information to the closestPSAP. Corresponding vehicle information sent to PSAP may include ownerinformation, owner driving records, vehicle address, etc.

To provide the capability of capturing traffic and vehicle information,an aspect of the present disclosure includes the capability to integratewith a traffic camera system, such as Intellicast system. In addition,an aspect of the present disclosure includes the capability to integratewith geographical information system (GIS) for providing emergencyservice zone information.

FIG. 10 provides a second embodiment of a system for processing andreporting situational information to emergency service providers. Inaddition to network components described in FIG. 1, system 1000comprises a GIS server 1002 that provides emergency service zoneinformation. Within each emergency service zone, a traffic camera system1004 manages cameras that are set up to capture traffic and vehicleinformation in specific geographical areas for that zone. For example, aGIS server 1002 includes emergency service zone information for the cityof Dallas and traffic camera system 1004 manages all the cameras thatare set up in the city of Dallas to capture traffic and vehicleinformation.

GIS server 1002 is connected to automated location identification system(ALIS) 112. In one embodiment, a caller, such as caller 102, may reportan emergency situation. Once a call is established between PSAP 114 andcaller 102, PSAP 114 may request traffic and vehicle informationsurrounding caller 102 from a 911 multi-media clearing house 1006. Inturn, 911 multi-media clearing house 906 may query ALIS 112 for cameraslocated near caller 102. ALIS 112 then performs a lookup of nearbycameras using the GIS server 1002 and returns captured traffic andvehicle information. 911 multi-media clearing house 1006 may then storeand process the information in database 1008 in accordance with thesteps described in FIG. 7 and report the processed information to PSAP114 in accordance with the steps described in FIG. 8.

Alternatively, the 911 multi-media clearing house 1006 may monitor foran emergency situation by recognizing the situation based on thecaptured traffic and vehicle information. The 911 multi-media clearinghouse 1006 may store and process the vehicle information in accordancewith the steps described in FIGS. 7 and 8 and report the processedinformation to emergency service providers in accordance with the stepsdescribed in FIG. 9.

In summary, aspects of the present disclosure provide an improved methodand system for processing and reporting situational information toemergency service providers. The situation information may be images,videos, sound files captured by an emergency caller using a cellularphone. Alternatively, situational information may be traffic and vehicleinformation captured by cameras installed at specific geographicalareas. Aspects of the present disclosure may process the capturedinformation by identifying multi-media information from a message orcorresponding traffic and vehicle information from a captured image. Themulti-media information and the corresponding vehicle information may bereported to emergency service providers for better emergency response.

In addition to multi-media information being sent using the multi-mediamessages, the situation information may be sent using various types ofmessage formats. For example, Instant Messages (IMs) and short messagesmay be sent from a mobile unit to the PSAP via a short message service(SMS) application or center without departing the spirit and scope ofthe present disclosure.

Systems and methods have been shown and/or described in the aboveembodiments for processing and reporting situational information toemergency service providers. Although the above descriptions set forthpreferred embodiments, it will be understood that there is no intent tolimit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended tocover all modifications and alternate implementations falling within thespirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments areintended to cover capabilities and concepts whether they be via aloosely coupled set of components or they be converged into one or moreintegrated components, devices, circuits, and/or software programs.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: responsive to detecting anemergency situation, instructing a caller to use a short code to send amessage having multi-media information comprising one or more of video,sound, and images of the emergency situation to emergency serviceproviders and instructing one or more cameras of one or more mobiledevices in a specific geographic area to send captured traffic andvehicle information; identifying a location of the caller based on thetelephone number and by leveraging a geographical information system anda global position system; identifying a closest public safety answeringpoint to the location; when the closest public safety answering point tothe location is available, sending the multi-media information of themessage to the closest public safety answering point; when the closestpublic safety answering point to the location is not available, sendingthe multi-media information of the message to an available public safetyanswering point; storing and processing the information in a database,wherein the processing of the information comprises identifying atelephone number of the caller, and storing the telephone number of thecaller and the multi-media information in the database; and reportingthe processed information to the emergency service providers when thetelephone number of the caller matches a telephone number identified bythe emergency service providers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetecting of the emergency situation comprises receiving an emergencycall from a cellular phone of the caller.
 3. The method of claim 1,comprising, responsive to detecting the emergency situation, collecting,from a cellular phone, information relating to the detected emergencysituation, wherein the collecting of the information comprisesinstructing the caller to use the short code.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the collecting of the information relating to the emergencysituation comprises: routing the message to a multi-media messagingcarrier; routing the message from the multi-media messaging carrier to amulti-media messaging system aggregator via a packet data servicingnode; and forwarding the message from the multi-media messaging systemaggregator to the database.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thereporting of the processed information to the emergency serviceproviders comprises: receiving a query from a public safety answeringpoint, the query comprising a telephone number; comparing the telephonenumber with a plurality of telephone numbers in the database;determining whether a match exists between the telephone number and atleast one of the plurality of telephone numbers; and sending themulti-media information of the message to the public safety answeringpoint when a match exists.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein thereporting of the processed information to the emergency serviceproviders comprises: receiving a query from a public safety answeringpoint for relevant multi-media information; and returning allmulti-media information associated from the database to the publicsafety answer point.
 7. The method of claim 3, comprising monitoring foran emergency situation.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the monitoringfor the emergency situation comprises instructing at least one camera ata geographical location to capture traffic and vehicle information. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the collecting of the informationrelating to the emergency situation comprises: recognizing the emergencysituation based on the captured traffic and vehicle information; andstoring vehicle information associated with the emergency situation tothe database.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the processing of theinformation from the database comprises: identifying at least onelicense from the vehicle information; comparing the at least one licensewith a plurality of licenses in the database; and determining whether amatch exists between the at least one license and at least one of theplurality of licenses.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the reportingof the processed information to the emergency service providerscomprises: locating a public safety answering point located closest tothe at least one camera; and sending corresponding vehicle informationto the public safety answering point when a match of license or vehicledescription exists.
 12. A network, comprising: at least one mobile unitused by a caller; at least one multi-media messaging carriercommunicably coupled to the at least one mobile unit; and at least onemulti-media clearing house comprising at least one database, the atleast one multi-media clearing house configured to: identify, via acommunicably coupled geographical location server, a location of thecaller based on a telephone number and via a geographical informationsystem and a global position system, instruct the caller to use a shortcode to send a message having multi-media information comprising one ormore of video, sound, and images of an emergency situation to emergencyservice providers and instruct one or more cameras of one or more mobiledevice in a specific geographic area to send captured traffic andvehicle information to the emergency service providers; when a closestpublic safety answering point to the location is available, send themulti-media information of the message to the closest public safetyanswering point; when the closest public safety answering point to thelocation is not available, send the multi-media information of themessage to an available public safety answering point; and report themulti-media information to the at least one public safety answeringpoint when the telephone number of the caller matches a telephone numberidentified by the at least one public safety answering point.
 13. Thenetwork of claim 12, further comprising at least one multi-mediamessaging system aggregator, wherein the at least one multi-mediaclearing house is further configured to route the message to the atleast one multi-media messaging carrier, route the message from the atleast one multi-media messaging carrier to the at least one multi-mediamessaging system aggregator via a packet data servicing node, andforward the message from the at least one multi-media messaging systemaggregator to the at least one database.
 14. The network of claim 12,wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house configured tomonitor for the emergency situation.
 15. The network of claim 12,wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is furtherconfigured to receive a query from the at least one public safetyanswering point, the query comprising a telephone number, compare thetelephone number with a plurality of telephone numbers in the at leastone database, determine whether a match exists between the telephonenumber and at least one of the plurality of telephone numbers, and sendthe multi-media information of the message to the at least one publicsafety answering point when a match exists.
 16. The network of claim 12,wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is furtherconfigured to identify the telephone number of the caller and store thetelephone number of the caller and the multi-media information in thedatabase.
 17. The network of claim 12, wherein the at least onemulti-media clearing house is further configured to receive a query fromthe at least one public safety answering point for all relevantmulti-media information and return all multi-media informationassociated from the database to the at least one public safety answerpoint.
 18. A network, comprising: at least one traffic camera configuredto capture traffic and vehicle information at a geographical location;at least one public safety answering point; and at least one multi-mediaclearing house comprising at least one database, the at least onemulti-media clearing house being configured to: collect, from a mobiledevice, information relating to an emergency situation via a short codeto send a message having multi-media information comprising one or moreof video, sound, and images of the emergency situation to emergencyservice providers, identify, via a communicably coupled geographicallocation server, a location of the caller based on a telephone numberand via a geographical information system and a global position system,when a closest public safety answering point to the location isavailable, send the multi-media information of the message to theclosest public safety answering point, when the closest public safetyanswering point to the location is not available, send the multi-mediainformation of the message to an available public safety answeringpoint, and report the information to the at least one public safetyanswering point when the telephone number of the caller matches atelephone number identified by the public safety answering point. 19.The network of claim 18, wherein the at least one multi-media clearinghouse being configured to monitor for the emergency situation.
 20. Thenetwork of claim 18, wherein the at least one multi-media clearing houseis further configured to identify at least one license from the vehicleinformation, compare the at least one license with a plurality oflicenses in the at least one database, and determine whether a matchexists between the at least one license and at least one of theplurality of licenses.